Surgeons who are rude to patients and others may pose a problem in the operating room. That's according to a new study linking surgery complications with doctors whose hospitals have gotten lots of complaints about their behavior.

Surgery complications were 14 percent more common in patients whose surgeons had at least 14 complaints during the previous two years, compared to patients whose doctors had few or no complaints.

The researchers say rude behavior could hurt the operating team's performance. They say quality improvement programs that share negative feedback with surgeons can result in fewer complaints and fewer malpractice cases. So they recommend speaking up when you see unprofessional behavior.